1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to L-type coaxial connectors. In particular, the present invention relates to an L-type coaxial connector that can be connected to and disconnected from a receptacle having a center conductor and an external conductor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of known L-type coaxial connectors are described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-43939 (hereinafter referred to as JP 2001-43939) and in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-307158 (hereinafter referred to as JP 11-307158). FIG. 18 is an exploded perspective view of a coaxial connector 210 and a receptacle 230 described in JP 2001-43939. FIG. 19 is an exploded perspective view of a coaxial connector 310 described in JP 11-307158.
As shown in prior art FIG. 18, the coaxial connector 210 includes a housing 212, a bushing 214, and a socket 216. The coaxial connector 210 is attached to an end of a coaxial cable 220 and can be connected to and disconnected from the receptacle 230. The coaxial cable 220 has an outer conductor 222 and a center conductor 224. The receptacle 230 includes an external conductor 232 and a center conductor 234.
As further shown in FIG. 18, the housing 212 further includes a cylinder portion 226, a surrounding portion 227, a lid portion 228, and a crimping portion 229. The housing 212 is connected to an outer conductor 222 of the coaxial cable 220. The bushing 214 is made of an insulating material.
As further shown in FIG. 18, the bushing 214 is attached to the cylinder portion 226 and the surrounding portion 227 of the housing 212. The socket 216 is attached to the bushing 214 and connected to the center conductor 224 of the coaxial cable 220. After the bushing 214 and the socket 216 are attached to the housing 212, the lid portion 228 is closed and the crimping portion 229 is crimped. Thus, the cylinder portion 226, the lid portion 228, and the coaxial cable 220 are fixed to one another.
The coaxial connector 210 described in JP 2001-43939 has a problem in that even a slight force applied to the coaxial connector 210 or the coaxial cable 220 can disengage the coaxial connector 210 from the receptacle 230. FIG. 20 is a plan view of the coaxial connector 210.
More specifically, in attaching the coaxial connector 210 to the receptacle 230, the external conductor 232 of the receptacle 230 is inserted into the cylinder portion 226. At this time, the cylinder portion 226 is pushed and expanded by the external conductor 232 in the directions indicated by the arrows shown in FIG. 20, and the cylinder portion 226 is thus pressed into contact with the external conductor 232. This enables the coaxial connector 210 to be attached to and disconnected from the receptacle with a moderate force.
However, for the coaxial connector 210 described in JP 2001-43939, the force for causing the cylinder portion 226 to be pressed into contact with the external conductor 232 is insufficient. As shown in FIG. 20, a gap SP1 is present between the surrounding portion 227 and the crimping portion 229, and, thus, the surrounding portion 227 is not supported by the crimping portion 229. Because of this, in attaching the coaxial connector 210 to the receptacle 230, after the cylinder portion 226 is expanded in the directions indicated by the arrows shown in FIG. 20, the surrounding portion 227 is not supported by the crimping portion 229 and is also expanded largely. The force for causing the cylinder portion 226 to be pressed into contact with the external conductor 232 is not sufficiently large, so the coaxial connector 210 is apt to be disengaged from the receptacle 230.
The coaxial connector 310 shown in JP 11-307158 is described next. As shown in prior art FIG. 19, the coaxial connector 310 includes a housing 312, a bushing 314, and a socket 316 and is attached to the end of the coaxial cable 220.
As further shown in FIG. 19, the housing 312 includes a cylinder portion 326, a cover 327, a lid portion 328, and a crimping portion 329. The housing 312 is connectable to the outer conductor 222 of the coaxial cable 220. The bushing 314 is made of an insulating material. As shown in FIG. 19, the bushing 314 is attached to the cylinder portion 326 of the housing 312. The socket 316 is attached to the bushing 314 and connectable to the center conductor 224 of the coaxial cable 220. After the bushing 314 and the socket 316 are attached to the housing 312, the lid portion 328 is closed and the crimping portion 329 is crimped. Thus, the cylinder portion 326, the lid portion 328, and the coaxial cable 220 are fixed to one another.
To enable the coaxial connector 310 described in JP 11-307158 to be attachable to and detachable from the receptacle 230 with a moderate force, it is necessary to produce the housing 312 with high accuracy. FIG. 21 is a plan view of the coaxial connector 310.
More specifically, in attaching the coaxial connector 310 to the receptacle 230, the substantially cylindrical external conductor 232 of the receptacle 230 is inserted into the cylinder portion 326. At this time, the cylinder portion 326 is pushed and expanded by the external conductor 232 in the directions indicated by the arrows shown in FIG. 20, and the cylinder portion 326 is thus pressed into contact with the external conductor 232. This aims to enable the coaxial connector 310 to be attached to and disconnected from the receptacle with a moderate force.
However, for the coaxial connector 310 described in JP 11-307158, the cylinder portion 326 is less prone to being deformed. In order to enable the coaxial connector 310 to be connected to and disconnected from the receptacle 230 with a moderate force, it is necessary to produce the housing 312 with high accuracy. As shown in FIG. 21, the cover 327 is pressed by the crimping portion 329. Accordingly, in attaching the coaxial connector 310 to the receptacle 230, because the cover 327 is unable to expand due to pressing by the crimping portion 329, the cylinder portion 326 is unable to expand largely in the directions indicated by the arrows shown in FIG. 21. That is, the cylinder portion 326 can be deformed in a significantly narrow range. To enable the coaxial connector 310 to be connected to and disconnected from the receptacle 230 with a moderate force, the amount of deformation of the cylinder portion 326 after the external conductor 232 of the receptacle 230 is inserted into the cylinder portion 326 must fall within that narrow range. Therefore, it is necessary to produce the housing 312 with high accuracy.